NOT a tax cut; Bargaining with national security; WikiLeaks and Don't Ask Don't Tell

1) Bernanke defends bond buys, citing at-risk economy 

WASHINGTON – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is stepping up his defense of the Fed's $600 billion Treasury bond-purchase plan, saying the economy is still struggling to become "self-sustaining" without government help. 

In a taped interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" that aired Sunday night, Bernanke also argued that Congress shouldn't cut spending or boost taxes given how fragile the economy remains. 

The Fed chairman said he thinks another recession is unlikely. But he warned that the economy could suffer a slowdown if persistently high unemployment dampens consumer spending.

The interview is part of a broad counteroffensive Bernanke has been waging against critics of the bond purchase plan the Fed announced Nov. 3. The purchases are intended to lower long-term interest rates, lift stock prices and encourage more spending to boost the economy. 

Critics, from Republicans in Congress to some officials within the Fed, say they fear the Fed's intervention could spur inflation and speculative buying on Wall Street while doing little to aid the economy. 

On other issues in the "60 Minutes" interview, Bernanke: 

• Argued that unemployment would have been far higher — "something like it was in the Depression, 25 percent" — had the Fed not provided extraordinary aid to Wall Street firms, banks and other companies to ease a credit crisis. 

• Said it could take four or five more years for unemployment, now at 9.8 percent, to fall to a historically normal 5 percent or 6 percent. 

• Reiterated that the Fed is prepared to buy even more than $600 billion in Treasury bonds over the next eight months, should it decide the economy needs the fuel of even lower interest rates (emphasis mine). 

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101206/ap_on_bi_ge/us_bernanke60_minutes 

2) It Is NOT a Tax Cut 

The "Bush Era Tax Cuts" are no longer "Tax Cuts." 

In 2001 and 2003 the Congress approved a reduction in tax rates to spur the economy. The deal was, they would expire at the end of 2010 unless they were affirmatively extended. Let's go to the calendar: 2001 was nearly 10 years ago. 2003 was almost eight years ago. 

The tax rates which are currently in place are the … tax rates which are currently in place. 

Republicans have allowed the Left to categorize the argument as "extending the Bush Era Tax Cuts." That's flat wrong. What President Obama and most of the remaining Democrats in Congress want to do is to RAISE TAXES. 

If all of the Bush Era Tax Cuts are extended, no one, not one single person of the more than 310 million in the United States will have their taxes cut. Their tax rates will remain the same. 

If, on the other hand, Nancy Pelosi and her Liberal colleagues in the House want to change those rates, they will not be reversing a tax cut. 

They will be RAISING TAXES.

See: http://townhall.com/columnists/RichGalen/2010/12/01/it_is_not_a_tax_cut 

2a) After the tax fight, parties move to compromise 

WASHINGTON – Their political options limited, Democrats and Republicans appeared to unite Sunday behind the outlines of an economic package that would temporarily extend expiring tax rates to all taxpayers as well as jobless benefits for millions of Americans. 

Differences remained over details, and some Democrats continued to object to any plan that would continue Bush-era tax rates at the highest income levels. 

Without action, however, Congress faced the prospect of letting the tax rates revert to higher pre-2001 and 2003 levels, and delivering a tax hike to all taxpayers. Negotiations between the Obama administration and a bipartisan group of lawmakers centered on a two-year extension of current rates. 

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101206/ap_on_bi_ge/us_tax_cuts 

2b) Tax Breaks for Bailout Recipients Stir Up Debate 

A series of tax relief measures is saving companies bailed out by the government billions of dollars at a time when concern over tax revenues has risen. 

Although the Treasury Department first provided the tax guidance in the fall of 2008, the magnitude of the tax savings has become clearer in the past year. The tax relief drew new scrutiny last month after Wall Street bankers touted it to investors in the initial public offering of General Motors Corp. 

The tax breaks, already known to apply at GM and Citigroup Inc., also are helping results at another company rescued by Uncle Sam, American International Group Inc., according to tax experts and people familiar with the companies. 

The Treasury gave the same treatment to mortgage agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but their ability to save taxes as a result is less certain, the same people said. 

The tax treatment allows companies whose ownership changes to keep the right to use past losses and other deductions to offset future profits for as long as 20 years. Ordinarily, companies' ability to use such tax assets is curtailed when they are acquired, under a 1986 law aimed at curbing "trafficking" acquisitions arranged to capture tax shelters. 

I thought that the “rich” need to pay their fair share. Not if you’re a friend of The Administration, apparently. 

See: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704377004575651134154809918.html 

2c) Senate Republicans Set to Bargain Away Our National Security 

One month ago today, millions of Americans voted to reject big-government and the backroom deals that defined the Obama presidency.  Now, some of the same Senate Republicans who rode that momentum to electoral victory appear to be on the verge of ignoring that message by striking a deal to trade passage of the dangerous New START treaty for an extension of the current tax rates. 

To be crystal clear, we will view any deal on the extension of the current tax rates followed by Senate consideration of the New START Treaty, during this Lame Duck session of Congress, as the worst kind of quid pro quo. 

Recent backroom deals like the Cornhusker Kickback, Louisiana Purchase and Gator-Aid were met with ridicule and disgust on November 2nd.  But this shady deal is far, far worse.  It is unthinkable that any Senator, let alone any who claim to be conservative, would use our national security as a bargaining chit (emphasis mine). 

Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) is acting as the key negotiator for Senate Republicans on both the nuclear treaty and the Obama tax hikes.  To borrow a metaphor from the President, Senator Kyl is driving this car and he and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) should convince their fellow members to throw it in reverse. 

For months, The Heritage Foundation has articulated serious and substantive policy concerns surrounding this treaty.  We have explained, in detail, how the treaty limits our missile defense capability, why the verification provisions are inadequate and what restrictions are placed on our non-nuclear weapons – all to the great detriment to our ability to defend ourselves in an increasingly dangerous world.

See: http://blog.heritage.org/2010/12/02/senate-republicans-set-to-bargain-away-our-security/ 

3) New START, Old Stratagem 

Here we go again. President Obama is trying once again to ram a legislative initiative through Congress knowing full well that, by so doing, he is maximizing the chances that his project's defects will not become widely understood until it is too late to do much about them. Call it the pig-in-a-poke stratagem. 

This time around, however, Mr. Obama is not simply trying to socialize the economy, destroy the world's finest health care system or assault the Constitution. No, at the moment he has the national security in his crosshairs - and the negative implications could make those associated with his other, domestic policy campaigns pale by comparison. 

Specifically, the President is determined to with "rid the world of nuclear weapons" - and he is intent on securing the U.S. Senate's imprimatur for this truly hare-brained idea. That is the real impetus behind his insistence that senators rubber-stamp during the lame-duck session the so-called "New START" arms control treaty that Mr. Obama signed with his Russian counterpart last April. 

You see, the treaty was accompanied by - and is intended to put what amounts to an international seal of approval on - an administration-generated document known as the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR). The NPR commits the United States to continue on a course that would, all other things being equal, assure the continued atrophying of the American deterrent. For example, it forswears the design and manufacture of any new nuclear weapons; precludes realistic, underground testing of the obsolescing arms in the U.S. arsenal; and pledges to "devalue" the nuclear deterrence mission of those responsible for maintaining and safeguarding the forces designed to perform it. 

Now, most senators - like most Americans - have the good sense to think it advisable for the United States to maintain a viable deterrent. As a result, these sorts of proposals would be unlikely to command majority support, let alone the super-majority the Constitution requires to ratify New START. 

…The administration's flacks are particularly insistent that the urgency derives from the fact that, without New START's monitoring arrangements, we won't know what the Russians are up to. They warn darkly that, while bilateral relations with the Kremlin have been productively "reset," the sky will fall if ratification is not forthcoming over the next three weeks. 

…Like so much of the Obama administration's handiwork, none of these propositions stands up to close scrutiny. As an innovative new video by the Center for Security Policy makes clear, our enemies are emboldened by what they perceive as U.S. weakness, not induced to emulate it. 

See: http://townhall.com/columnists/FrankGaffney/2010/12/02/new_start,_old_stratagem 

3a) New Start: What Would Reagan Do?

The late president would never have supported a treaty undermining U.S. missile defenses. 

BY ED MEESE AND RICHARD PERLE 

President Obama has taken to the airwaves to pump up support for the New Start Treaty with Russia by arguing that Ronald Reagan would have endorsed it. Both of us had the high honor of knowing our 40th president. We worked for Ronald Reagan, and we're sure that's not the case. 

There are many reasons why this treaty falls short of those negotiated by President Reagan. For one thing, its verification regime is inadequate. For another, it gives the Kremlin an unwarranted influence over the structure of our nuclear deterrent. 

See: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704679204575647183506149438.html 

4) Serious Questions about the Obama Administration's Incompetence in the Wikileaks Fiasco (Sarah Palin) 

We all applaud the successful thwarting of the Christmas-Tree Bomber and hope our government continues to do all it can to keep us safe. However, the latest round of publications of leaked classified U.S. documents through the shady organization called Wikileaks raises serious questions about the Obama administration’s incompetent handling of this whole fiasco. 

First and foremost, what steps were taken to stop Wikileaks director Julian Assange from distributing this highly sensitive classified material especially after he had already published material not once but twice in the previous months? Assange is not a “journalist,” any more than the “editor” of al Qaeda’s new English-language magazine Inspire is a “journalist.” He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands. His past posting of classified documents revealed the identity of more than 100 Afghan sources to the Taliban. Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders? 

…Most importantly, serious questions must also be asked of the U.S. intelligence system. How was it possible that a 22-year-old Private First Class could get unrestricted access to so much highly sensitive information? And how was it possible that he could copy and distribute these files without anyone noticing that security was compromised? 

The White House has now issued orders to federal departments and agencies asking them to take immediate steps to ensure that no more leaks like this happen again. It’s of course important that we do all we can to prevent similar massive document leaks in the future. But why did the White House not publish these orders after the first leak back in July? What explains this strange lack of urgency on their part? 

See: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=465212788434&id=24718773587 

4a) WikiLeaks loses major source of revenue 

BERLIN – WikiLeaks has lost a major source of revenue after the online payment service provider PayPal cut off its account used to collect donations, saying the website is engaged in illegal activity. 

The announcement also came as WikiLeaks is struggling to keep its website accessible after service providers such as Amazon dropped contracts, and governments and hackers continued to hound the organization. 

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101205/ap_on_hi_te/wikileaks

4b) Bradley Manning: Poster Boy for 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' 

The two biggest stories this week are WikiLeaks' continued publication of classified government documents, which did untold damage to America's national security interests, and the Democrats' fanatical determination to repeal "don't ask, don't tell" and allow gays to serve openly in the military. 

The mole who allegedly gave WikiLeaks the mountains of secret documents is Pfc. Bradley Manning, Army intelligence analyst and angry gay. 

We've heard 1 billion times about the Army translator who just wanted to serve his country, but was cashiered because of whom he loved. 

I'll see your Army translator and raise you one Bradley Manning. According to Bradley's online chats, he was in "an awkward place" both "emotionally and psychologically." So in a snit, he betrayed his country by orchestrating the greatest leak of classified intelligence in U.S. history. 

Isn't that in the Army Code of Conduct? You must follow orders at all times. Exceptions will be made for servicemen in an awkward place. Now, who wants a hug? Waitress! Three more apple-tinis!" 

According to The New York Times, Bradley sought "moral support" from his "self-described drag queen" boyfriend. Alas, he still felt out of sorts. So why not sell out his country? 

See: http://townhall.com/columnists/AnnCoulter/2010/12/01/bradley_manning_poster_boy_for_dont_ask,_dont_tell 

5) Glenn Beck: EU -- Fiscal union or bust? 

GLENN: You know, it's it's amazing to me how this is all coming together and how beautifully crafted it is. It is truly elegant the way that this country and the globe is being conned into a collective government. I want to go back to Europe and show now the choice in Europe. You know that they first said that they had to give lots of bailout money and it had to be staggering amounts does this sound familiar to shock the system over in Europe. And it went to Greece and that was supposed to stop the dominoes from falling. And now the next domino is starting to fall and that is Ireland. And the Irish didn't want it. And they were forced by the EU to take it, otherwise all the other dominoes would fall. Well, there's more dominoes to come. It's going to be Portugal and then it will be Spain. It's over. 

And so here's what's being reported in the financial sector today. 

PAT: Business Insider has a story that's headlined: You've Got to Restructure the Eurozone Now Before the Radicals Take Over. If Europe is going to resolve the current crisis in an orderly way, it's going to have to move very quickly, not just for the obvious financial reasons. 

GLENN: Hold on just a second. Could you read that sentence again? 

PAT: If Europe is going to resolve the crisis in an orderly way. 

GLENN: Stop. Who else is talking about an orderly restructuring, an orderly decline? George Soros.

PAT: George Soros. 

GLENN: Do you know that George Soros was just voted by some, I don't know, world organizational thing as the 15th most important and most influential man in the world? Now, why wouldn't we listen to what he has to say? If the world is being restructured. Listen to that again. For an orderly restructuring, you've got to move rapidly. Quick, quick! Emergency! You've got to reorder this right now! Otherwise chaos! And don't dismiss the chaos. There is chaos on the other end. 

PAT: And this particular author says that for ten years he's been using mainly an economic argument to explain why he believed the Euro would have great difficulty to survive for even a decade, let alone as long as it has. So he's he claims to have seen this coming and he quotes another article from another expert in the Financial Times that the Eurozone is maneuvering itself into a position where it confronts the choice between two alternatives considered unimaginable: Fiscal union or total breakup. So they either unite under one continental I suppose government and really unite more than they already are. 

See: http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/48741/ 

6) Top generals buck White House on military gay ban 

WASHINGTON – Bucking the Pentagon's top leaders (emphasis mine), the chiefs of the Army and Marines urged Congress on Friday not to allow openly gay people to serve in the military, at least not while troops are at war in Afghanistan. 

The generals publicly rebutted their own bosses and the White House (emphasis mine), arguing that it is too risky to change the policy now. That gave political ammunition to congressional Republicans trying to retain the ban known as "don't ask, don't tell." 

Wow. I wonder if they will suffer the same fate as General Stanley McChrystal… 

"It's important that we're clear about the military risks," said Gen. George Casey, the Army's top officer. "Repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell' would be a major cultural and policy change in the middle of a war." 

President Barack Obama has promised to jettison a policy he says is discriminatory, and asked Congress to repeal the 17-year-old law this year. Chances of that were slim to begin with, and they sank lower after Friday's blunt assessment that lifting the ban would tear the close bonds of the foxhole. Democrats have promised a vote this month. 

Both Casey and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos undercut Defense Secretary Robert Gates' claim that the change is not too dangerous. Their views are the most closely watched because the Army and Marines are doing most of the fighting in Afghanistan, and did the same in Iraq. 

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101204/ap_on_go_co/us_gays_in_military 

7) Reid Contaminates Food Safety Bill 

Less than 24 hours after declaring victory in his quest to vastly expand the regulatory powers of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—for the children—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–NV) is mired in a procedural misstep that may well kill the legislation. 

Despite the time constraints of the waning session, Reid focused Senate attention on passage of S. 510, the Food Safety Protection Act, which was approved on Tuesday by a vote of 73–25. 

Spanning some150 pages, the act authorizes the FDA to dictate how farmers grow fruits and vegetables, including rules governing soil, water, hygiene, packing, temperatures, and even what animals may roam which fields and when. It would also increase inspections of food “facilities” and tax them to do so. 

That’s the rub. The House version of the bill does not contain the “revenue raiser” in the Senate bill. But the Constitution calls for all tax provisions to originate in the House. Consequently, House Democrats are threatening to block the bill, which would force Reid to waste even more time on a legislative fix or simply admit defeat. 

Ah. Not quite as competent at procedural matters as he is at stealing elections? Perhaps some good news. 

See: http://blog.heritage.org/?p=47508

And: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/01/AR2010120108366.html 

7a) Dem Senator: The System is Rigged 

GLENN: I'd like to play the audio now of a Democratic senator picked up by a microphone saying you know, talking about this, again, a Democratic senator talking about the system that we now have. 

BENNET: It's nothing about because it's all rigged. I mean, the whole conversation is rigged, the conversation, the fact that we don't get to a discussion before the break about what we're going to do in the lame duck is just rigged. This stuff's rigged. 

PAT: I believe, I believe he uses the word "Rigged" either four or five times. 

GLENN: And who he's talking to, another senator, is also saying, yes, yes. 

PAT: Yes, it is, yes, is rigged. The situation is the agenda has been rigged by the Democrats. And there's a Democrat, Michael Bennet, from Colorado saying it, and just happened to be overheard with a live mic during a C Span broadcast. 

See: http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/48735/ 

8) DHS & TSA: Making a list, checking it twice 

Following the publication of my article titled “Gate Rape of America,” I was contacted by a source within the DHS who is troubled by the terminology and content of an internal memo reportedly issued yesterday at the hand of DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. Indeed, both the terminology and content contained in the document are troubling. The dissemination of the document itself is restricted by virtue of its classification, which prohibits any manner of public release. While the document cannot be posted or published, the more salient points are revealed here. 

The memo, which actually takes the form of an administrative directive, appears to be the product of undated but recent high level meetings between Napolitano, John Pistole, head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA),and one or more of Obama’s national security advisors. This document officially addresses those who are opposed to, or engaged in the disruption of the implementation of the enhanced airport screening procedures as “domestic extremists.” 

…The terminology contained within the reported memo is indeed troubling. It labels any person who “interferes” with TSA airport security screening procedure protocol and operations by actively objecting to the established screening process, “including but not limited to the anticipated national opt-out day” as a “domestic extremist.” The label is then broadened to include “any person, group or alternative media source” that actively objects to, causes others to object to, supports and/or elicits support for anyone who engages in such travel disruptions at U.S. airports in response to the enhanced security procedures. 

For individuals who engaged in such activity at screening points, it instructs TSA operations to obtain the identities of those individuals and other applicable information and submit the same electronically to the Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division, the Extremism and Radicalization branch of the Office of Intelligence & Analysis (IA) division of the Department of Homeland Security. 

…It would appear that the Department of Homeland Security is not only prepared to enforce the enhanced security procedures at airports, but is involved in gathering intelligence about those who don’t. They’re making a list and most certainly will be checking it twice. Meanwhile, legitimate threats to our air travel security (and they DO exist) seem to be taking a back seat to the larger threat of the multitude of non-criminal American citizens who object to having their Constitutional rights violated. 

See: http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/30286 

9) Congress sends child nutrition bill to Obama

WASHINGTON – More children would eat lunches and dinners at school under legislation passed Thursday by the House and sent to the president, part of first lady Michelle Obama's campaign to end childhood hunger and fight childhood obesity. (Does anyone else notice how ridiculous this sentience is? Emphasis and comment mine). 

The $4.5 billion bill approved by the House 264-157 would also try to cut down on greasy foods and extra calories by giving the government power to decide what kinds of foods may be sold in vending machines and lunch lines. The bill could even limit frequent school bake sales and fundraisers that give kids extra chances to eat brownies and pizza. (Oh, fantastic! Now the government is limiting bake sales, since you‘re too stupid to limit the brownies and pizza your child eats, we‘ll do it for you! Comment and emphasis mine). 

The first lady said in a statement after the vote that she was "thrilled" about House passage. She called the bill "a groundbreaking piece of bipartisan legislation that will significantly improve the quality of meals that children receive at school." 

Republicans said the bill is too expensive and an example of government overreach. Even former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has weighed in, bringing cookies to a speech at a Pennsylvania school last month and calling efforts to limit junk food in schools a "nanny state run amok." 

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101203/ap_on_bi_ge/us_congress_child_nutrition 

10) Burris Amendment Would Lead to More Tax-Funded Abortions 

William Saunders of AUL recently blogged about the Burris Amendment for LifeNews.com. An excerpt is below: 

The pro-abortion forces of the 111th Congress have returned to Capitol Hill with one more shot at forcing American taxpayers to subsidize elective abortions during the “Lame Duck” session of Congress. 

One potential attack comes from an amendment authored by Senator Roland Burris (D-IL), who was appointed to fill President Obama’s former Senate seat, and who has since been replaced by Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL). 

Under U.S. Code Title 10 USC Sec 1093(b), abortions may not be performed by Department of Defense medical personnel or in Department of Defense medical facilities except when the life of the mother is at risk, or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. 

However, if Congress adopts the amendment authored by Senator Burris, and added to the Department of Defense Authorization bill during the Senate Armed Services Committee mark-up in May, American taxpayers will be paying for military facilities, equipment, and the use of military personnel to perform abortions. 

See: http://www.aul.org/2010/11/burris-amendment-would-lead-to-more-tax-funded-abortions/ 

11) WikiLeaked: John Kerry calls for Israel to cede Golan Heights and East Jerusalem 

On a February trip to the Middle East, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry (D-MA) told Qatari leaders that the Golan Heights should be returned to Syria, that a Palestinian capital should be established in East Jerusalem as part of the Arab-Israeli peace process, and that he was "shocked" by what he saw on a visit to Gaza. 

Kerry discussed the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in a visit to Qatar during separate meetings with Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani and the Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa, as revealed by the disclosure of diplomatic cables by the website WikiLeaks.

See: http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/11/29/wikileaked_john_kerry_calls_for_israel_to_cede_golan_heights_and_east_jerusalem

 

12) Iran blames Israel after nuclear scientist killed 

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's president accused Israel and the West of being behind a pair of daring bomb attacks that killed one nuclear scientist and wounded another in their cars on the streets of Tehran on Monday. He also admitted for the first time that a computer worm had affected centrifuges in Iran's uranium enrichment program. 

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other Iranian officials vowed that the nuclear program would not be hampered by what they described as a campaign to sabotage it — whether by assassination or by the computer virus. The United States and its allies say Iran is seeking to build a nuclear bomb, a claim Tehran denies. 

…The latest attacks come a day after the release of internal U.S. State Department memos by the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, including several that vividly detail Arab fears over Iran's nuclear program. In some memos, U.S. diplomats say Arab leaders advocated a U.S.-led attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. 

Ahmadinejad dismissed the leaks as "mischief" aimed at damaging Tehran's ties with the Arab world. 

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101130/ap_on_re_us/iran_nuclear 

13) Russia-China Deal Aims -- Sort of -- to Ditch Dollars 

(Nov. 24) -- Russia and China plan to start conducting their mutual trade in rubles and yuan in a bid to remove the globally predominant U.S. dollar from the equation, but the move seemed more symbolic than financially significant. 

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced the decision Tuesday after meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in St. Petersburg, adding that rubles had begun to exchange on Chinese exchanges this week and that the yuan will start trading in Moscow next month. 

"We are determined to use our national currencies more extensively to settle mutual accounts," Putin said, noting bilateral trade between the two countries has mostly used foreign currencies, mainly U.S. dollars. "This is an important step towards strengthening direct ties in trade and the economy without any losses." 

But the currency change -- solidifying a decision last year by Russia, China and other member states of the regional Shanghai Cooperation Organization to minimize the dollar's Central Asian trade role -- may make little difference, at least any time soon. 

…Global currency markets took little or no notice of the announcement, in part because China keeps tight control over the yuan's exchange rate and because worries about the European Union's debt crises are overwhelming much else.

See: http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/russia-china-currency-deal-aims-sort-of-to-ditch-dollars/19732452 

14) Taxpayer funded museum displaying ant-covered Jesus, ‘homoerotic’ art 

The federally funded National Portrait Gallery, one of the museums of the Smithsonian Institution, is currently showing an exhibition that features images of an ant-covered Jesus, male genitals, naked brothers kissing, men in chains, Ellen DeGeneres grabbing her breasts, and a painting the Smithsonian itself describes in the show’s catalog as “homoerotic.” 

The exhibit, “Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture,” opened on Oct. 30 and will run throughout the Christmas Season, closing on Feb. 13. 

“This is an exhibition that displays masterpieces of American portraiture and we wanted to illustrate how questions of biography and identity went into the making of images that are canonical,” David C. Ward, a National Portrait Gallery (NGP) historian who is also co-curator of the exhibit, told CNSNews.com. 

See: http://dailycaller.com/2010/11/29/taxpayer-funded-museum-displaying-ant-covered-jesus-homoerotic-art/

 

Don't touch my junk; Soros distances Obama; Senator wants FCC to end Fox News/MSNBC

1) Campaign for Liberty Says Enough to TSA Violating Personal Liberty Once Again

"Since 9/11, the federal government has willingly traded more of our liberties for so-called 'security' through freedom-stealing legislation and wasteful bureaucratic nightmares like the TSA. Americans are now being humiliated into accepting the TSA's naked body scanners by the introduction of 'enhanced pat-downs.' This basically gives fliers, including women and children, a choice between experiencing a virtual strip search or a sexual assault. And we are expected to accept this as a condition of flying."

"Campaign for Liberty has long warned against the gross violations of personal privacy by the federal government's TSA, as one of our own staff experienced its outrageous treatment of passengers first hand. As the incidents continue to pile up, we are glad to see other Americans express their concern and demand change."

"Just like other massive federal government overreaches, the TSA thinks telling us this is necessary for 'our safety' allows it to do whatever it wants to us, including shredding our Fourth Amendment rights (emphasis mine)."

"In the interest of our families, our Republic, and our national security, Campaign for Liberty believes it is time to save the taxpayers almost ten billion dollars a year by abolishing the TSA."

See: http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=39459

1a) George Soros also profiting off controversial new TSA scanners

Be sure and read Tim Carney’s Examiner column today on the politically-connected lobby for the controversial new TSA scanners that are upsetting airline employees and travelers everywhere. Carney notes that a company called Rapiscan got a $165 million contract for the new body image scanners four days after the underwear-bomber incident this past Christmas. Not surprisingly, Rapiscan is politically connected, observes Carney:

Rapiscan got the other naked-scanner contract from the TSA, worth $173 million. Rapiscan’s lobbyists include Susan Carr, a former senior legislative aide to Rep. David Price, D-N.C., chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee. When Defense Daily reported on Price’s appropriations bill last winter, the publication noted “Price likes the budget for its emphasis on filling gaps in aviation security, in particular the whole body imaging systems.”

Then this morning Carney also noted that former Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff was flacking for Rapiscan.

As for the company’s other political connections, it also appears that none other than George Soros, the billionaire funder of the country’s liberal political infrastructure, owns 11,300 shares of OSI Systems Inc., the company that owns Rapiscan. Not surprisingly, OSI’s stock has appreciated considerably over the course of the year. Soros certainly is a savvy investor.

See: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2010/11/george-soros-also-profiting-controversial-new-tsa-scanners

1b) “If you touch my junk, I’ll have you arrested”

A video posted online over the past weekend by John Tyner, a 31-year-old California software programmer, recorded an encounter at the San Diego airport. The video, in which Mr. Tyner tells a TSA screener "If you touch my junk, I'll have you arrested," has gone viral, being viewed thousands of times.

…A San Diego TSA official told reporters Monday that Mr. Tyner had violated federal law and federal regulations and could face civil penalties, including a fine up to $11,000.

See: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/16/tsa-body-scans-pat-downs-needed/?page=2

1c) Grabbing Junk Is 'Necessary,' Says Biden

Vice President Joe Biden is defending the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) controversial new pat-down technique, calling it a "necessary policy."

Biden acknowledged people have concerns that the TSA's use of full-body scanners and pat-downs are frustrating and intrusive but argued they are crucial to prevent another incident like the attempted Christmas Day airline bombing.

"Well look, Larry, maybe because I spend so much time every morning dealing with the threat assessment that's out there and the fact that it's real — I understand peoples' frustration, but I — unless there's a new technology that comes along pretty quickly, I think it's — I think it's a necessary policy," he said on CNN's "Larry King Live" program. "I think it will have the effect of saving lives, intercepting explosives."

Even though the TSA's new policy has riled lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Biden's comments indicate the agency will continue to scan or pat down passengers at the nation's airports.

Ah, yes, Mr. Vice President. And when was the last time YOU flew on a commercial aircraft? Hmm? …crickets…...crickets.... 

See: http://nation.foxnews.com/joe-biden/2010/11/19/grabbing-junk-necessary-says-biden#ixzz15lTxHdQL

1d) Napolitano to exempt some muslims from body scans; defends their use for everyone else

Facing mounting criticism and pushback from fliers over increasingly invasive procedures to ostensibly protect U.S. travelers, Janet Napolitano is defending the use of body scans or body pat downs for all travelers - except for some Muslims. The use of body scans or body pat downs applies to passengers and pilots alike, but not for Muslim women, who would be exempted from the full procedure and require only a limited pat down in the head and neck area, or optionally a self pat-down in the head and neck area.

If non-Muslim women want to avoid the intrusive scanning and pat-down procedures, could they simply declare themselves Muslim?

Here's an idea that the TSA might like: increase the scanning intensity or add cavity searches for non-Muslim-women; maybe that would help make up for the plastic explosives or other dangerous items hiding beneath Muslim women's burqas. However by no means should TSA use intelligence, as Israel does, to keep travelers safe. That might offend someone.

I hear that this might not be true; i.e., that Muslim women are NOT exempt. However, I can find no confirmation of this. If one of my readers would set me straight, I’'d be appreciative. 

See: http://texasgopvote.com/restore-families/security/napolitano-exempt-some-muslims-body-scans-defends-their-use-everyone-else-002132

And: http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2010/nov/napolitano-may-exempt-muslims-airport-pat-downs

1e) CAIR: TSA Can't Pat Down Muslim Women

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has issued a travel notice to Muslim airline passengers, warning them that new regulations from the Transportation Security Administration violate certain religious rules.

According to CAIR, the TSA's new "enhanced pat down" policy should be limited to searching only around Muslim women's head and neck if they are wearing a hijab and that Muslims objecting to the enhanced full-body scans have the right to request the pat-down procedure be done in a private place.

See: http://nation.foxnews.com/tsa/2010/11/14/cair-tsa-cant-pat-down-muslim-women

1f) TSA: Pilots to be exempt from some airport checks

WASHINGTON – The Transportation Security Administration has agreed to let airline pilots skip the security scanning and pat-downs that passengers face at the nation's airports, pilot groups said Friday.

Beginning Friday, pilots traveling in uniform or on airline business will be allowed to pass security by presenting two photo IDs, one from their company and one from the government, to be checked against a secure flight crew database, the TSA said.

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101119/ap_on_bi_ge/us_airport_security_pilots

1g) How Israelis secure airports

…Terrorists have yet to use the same weapon twice, and the TSA isn't even looking for whatever they'll try to use next. I can think of all sorts of things a person could use to wreak havoc on a plane that aren't banned. Security officials should pay less attention to objects, and more attention to people.

The Israelis do. They are, out of dreadful necessity, the world's foremost experts in counterterrorism. And they couldn't care less about what your grandmother brings on a plane. Instead, officials at Ben Gurion International Airport interview everyone in line before they're even allowed to check in.

And Israeli officials profile. They don't profile racially, but they profile. Israeli Arabs breeze through rather quickly, but thanks to the dozens of dubious-looking stamps in my passport -- almost half are from Lebanon and Iraq -- I get pulled off to the side for more questioning every time. And I'm a white, nominally Christian American.

See: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/forget_the_porn_machines_NQAJ5DOzf187gdRQnLURlO?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4ce95652dab07c99%2C0

2) GOP Earmark Ban Shifts Clout

…Congressional Republicans decided this week to swear off such "earmark" spending for their districts and states—effectively eliminating it altogether given the GOP's expanded numbers in both chambers. That means the Obama administration will have sole discretion over which ports to deepen, waterways to dredge and dams to build, among other things.

"We're going to be in a position where we can implement decisions really based on highest priorities," said Rob Nabors, acting deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Lawmakers may still say how money is budgeted generally for activities such as dredging, but by banning earmarks—specific projects funded as a result of lawmakers' requests—they won't be able to direct cash to individual districts or states. And the president will have more power (emphasis mine. Uh oh.) to eliminate or trim programs that have resisted cuts for years, White House and congressional officials say.

By some estimates, eliminating earmarks could save $15 billion a year, but that assumes recipient programs would be eliminated completely, something no one in government believes. Earmark decisions are more about control than money.

Rep. Jeff Flake (R., Ariz.), who has crusaded for an earmarks ban for years, favors the new rules despite the power shift. He calls earmarks "the currency of corruption" on Capitol Hill because some lawmakers have traded them for campaign contributions from lobbyists.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said the ban would lead to more horse-trading, with the president holding a powerful hand. (emphasis mine. Is Linsey Graham actually correct about something?). "You want money for that port—vote for START," he said, referring to a nuclear-arms treaty President Barack Obama wants the Senate to ratify. "Every administration is going to use this power, and they'd be crazy not to."

See: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703531504575625063777984150.html

3) Democrats to hold votes on middle class tax cuts

WASHINGTON – After meeting with President Barack Obama Thursday, Democratic leaders in Congress said they plan to hold a series of politically charged votes to extend middle-class tax cuts while letting tax cuts for the wealthy expire.

Republicans are expected to block the plan, leaving both sides back at square one as they try to negotiate a deal to spare families at every income level from a big tax increase in January.

Democratic officials said Obama did not embrace a particular approach to the tax cuts in his Oval Office meeting with Democratic leaders. He indicated he wanted to wait for a meeting with Democratic and Republican leaders on Nov. 30 before staking out a position.

"I think there's a reality here which is that while it might be best to continue the middle-class tax cuts and raise taxes on higher income people, the votes are not there to do that," said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent who caucuses with the Democrats. "I think everybody's got to deal with a stark reality which is, are we going to leave here knowing that we haven't come to an agreement and that everybody's taxes are going to go up Jan. 1?"

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he would like to schedule competing votes on the Senate floor. One would be on Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's bill to make all the tax cuts permanent; the other would be on a Democratic plan to extend only the middle class tax cuts. Neither is expected to pass.

If all the "tax “cuts"” (which are not “"cuts"” at all; they are the absence of RAISING taxes) do not go through, the economy will be further crippled.

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101119/ap_on_bi_ge/us_tax_cuts_democrats

4) Acquittal on Most Charges Stirs Debate About Terror Trials in Civilian Courts

NEW YORK—A jury convicted a former Guantanamo detainee of one count of conspiracy in the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Africa, but acquitted him of more than 280 other counts in a case widely seen as a test of the Obama administration's effort to try terror suspects in civilian courts.

Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, 36, of Tanzania, was the first former detainee of the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to be tried in a U.S civilian court. He faces 20 years to life in prison.

Mr. Ghailani's acquittal of the vast majority of charges could boost the arguments of those who maintain that military tribunals, and not civilian courts, are the proper venues for major terrorist trials. It also bolsters the view from others who say the security fears that surrounded the decision to try Mr. Ghailani in lower Manhattan were overblown.

The verdict, delivered Wednesday by an anonymous jury of six women and six men, is "a blow to both sides of the debate; neither side comes away with a clean argument for its case," said Robert Chesney, a University of Texas law professor and who served on a Obama Justice Department detainee task force. On one hand, he said, the government can claim some victory with one guilty count, but opponents of civilian trials can't ignore that Mr. Ghailani will likely get a tough sentence.

Mr. Ghailani, who was imprisoned Guantanamo from 2006 to 2009, was charged in connection with two deadly truck bombings outside U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya that killed 224 people and injured thousands more.

See: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704648604575621144046448352.html

5) George Soros Tells Progressive Donors Obama Might Not Be The Best Investment

WASHINGTON -- At a private meeting on Tuesday afternoon, George Soros, a longtime supporter of progressive causes, voiced blunt criticism of the Obama administration, going so far as to suggest that Democratic donors direct their support somewhere other than the president.

The Hungarian-American financier was speaking to a small side gathering of donors who had convened in Washington D.C. for the annual gathering of the Democracy Alliance -- a formal community of well-funded, progressive-minded individuals and activists.

According to multiple sources with knowledge of his remarks, Soros told those in attendance that he is "used to fighting losing battles but doesn't like to lose without fighting."

"We have just lost this election, we need to draw a line," he said, according to several Democratic sources. "And if this president can't do what we need, it is time to start looking somewhere else."

See: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/17/george-soros-obama_n_785022.html

6) The 19 Senators Who Voted To Censor The Internet

from the free-speech-isn't-free dept

This is hardly a surprise but, this morning (as previously announced), the lame duck Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously voted to move forward with censoring the internet via the COICA bill -- despite a bunch of law professors explaining to them how this law is a clear violation of the First Amendment. What's really amazing is that many of the same Senators have been speaking out against internet censorship in other countries, yet they happily vote to approve it here because it's seen as a way to make many of their largest campaign contributors happy. There's very little chance that the bill will actually get passed by the end of the term but, in the meantime, we figured it might be useful to highlight the 19 Senators who voted to censor the internet this morning:

Patrick J. Leahy -- Vermont

Herb Kohl -- Wisconsin

Jeff Sessions -- Alabama

Dianne Feinstein -- California

Orrin G. Hatch -- Utah

Russ Feingold -- Wisconsin

Chuck Grassley -- Iowa

Arlen Specter -- Pennsylvania

Jon Kyl -- Arizona

Chuck Schumer -- New York

Lindsey Graham -- South Carolina

Dick Durbin -- Illinois

John Cornyn -- Texas

Benjamin L. Cardin -- Maryland

Tom Coburn -- Oklahoma

Sheldon Whitehouse -- Rhode Island

Amy Klobuchar -- Minnesota

Al Franken -- Minnesota

Chris Coons -- Delaware

See: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101118/10291211924/the-19-senators-who-voted-to-censor-the-internet.shtml

7) China grabs a chunk of GM (at US taxpayer expense)

Should you be worried?

BOSTON — Tucked away in the euphoria over General Motors’ stock offering is the news that the Chinese government is now one of the company’s largest shareholders, with a stake valued at about $500 million.

Ironically — some would say tragically — as Beijing snaps up GM shares, U.S. taxpayers will lose some $4.5 billion on the stock offering, about 25 cents for every dollar of stock sold. This effectively means that American taxpayers are subsidizing China’s purchase to the tune of some $125 million.

In the United States, the taxpayer loss and subsidy to China have barely raised heckles.

The American people generally believe that a company like GM shouldn’t be held by the government, and the administration of President Barack Obama decided that $4.5 billion was an acceptable loss to bear to return it to private business.

Of course, the Chinese adhere to no such ideological constraints. On the contrary, China’s Communist Party runs many of the country’s businesses. Not only that, they pick winners in the marketplace and take the long view, focusing for many years on turning them into national champs.　

So should Americans be concerned about Chinese ownership of an American company like GM? For now, given that the stake is relatively small, it’s difficult to foresee any significant risk.

See: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/china/101118/china-GM-magnets

8) Chinese Firm 'Hijacked' Data

A state-owned Chinese telecom firm "hijacked" massive volumes of Internet traffic earlier this year by redirecting it unnecessarily through servers in China, a congressionally appointed panel said Wednesday.

During an 18-minute stretch on April 8, China Telecom rerouted traffic sent to about 15% of the Internet's destinations, including branches of the U.S. armed services, the U.S. Senate and companies like Microsoft Corp., the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said in its annual report.

The commission, set up by Congress a decade ago to examine the security implications of growing economic ties with China, said it couldn't determine whether the misdirection was malicious or how the messages might have been used. But it said the incident appeared to be part of a broader pattern of computer and Internet exploitation, possibly sponsored by the Chinese government.

"Persistent reports of that nation's use of malicious computer activities raise questions about whether China might seek intentionally...to assert some level of control over the Internet, even for a brief period," the report said.

…In the incident on April 8, China Telecom sent erroneous messages that led servers around the world to route traffic through the country, the commission said. The tactic could be used to spy on specific users, disrupt communications or conceal a separate attack, the commission said.

See: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704648604575621071689674364.html

9) Senator’s Shock Fantasy: FCC Tells Fox News & MSNBC ‘Out …Off… End …Goodbye.’

Sen. Rockefeller’s shared some thoughts that were not in his prepared remarks today. The West Virginia Democrat gave a mini-lecture on communications and journalism during a Senate hearing on retransmission consent:

Mr. Rockefeller spoke broadly about the ways he believes television is ailing, and in doing so he singled out the “endless barking” of cable news.

He said: “There’s a little bug inside of me which wants to get the F.C.C. to say to Fox and to MSNBC, ‘Out. Off. End. Goodbye.’ It would be a big favor to political discourse; to our ability to do our work here in Congress; and to the American people, to be able to talk with each other and have some faith in their government and, more importantly, in their future.”

There is little the Federal Communications Commission can say about Fox News or MSNBC since the channels are on cable, not delivered over the broadcast airwaves.

Apparently Senator Rockefeller didn’'t know that….

See: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/senators-shock-fantasy-fcc-tells-fox-news-msnbc-‘out-off-end-goodbye-’/

9a) More on this…Sen. Rockefeller: FCC should shut down Fox News and MSNBC

You see, Rockefeller says he hungers for quality news and believes that the FCC should play a part in facilitating that end. He believes that without the extremes of Fox News and MSNBC, the American people would have more faith in their government, would have better political discourse, and that it would help legislators do their work. Yeah right, Fox News is the reason why the American people don’t have faith in their government (emphasis mine).

What Rockefeller really wants is news that doesn’t hold him and his legislative buddies accountable. He doesn’t want news that would appropriately vet, say, President Obama, and uncover what he really believes and how it’s the complete opposite of what the majority of Americans believe. What he wants is a propaganda machine, which is why for the life of me I can’t figure out why he wants MSNBC taken off the air. Anyway, what this is really about is not what the American people want, but rather what he wants – freedom of speech and the Constitution be damned.

The bigger point here is the size of government. This is a prime example of why we must limit the size of government so as to maximize the freedom of the individual. Milton Friedman points out that every person works for their own self interest and the bigger the government, the better chance that a legislator’s self interest will conflict with yours. And when they conflict, we all know who wins that battle (i.e. Obamacare).

See: http://hotair.com/archives/2010/11/18/sen-rockefeller-fcc-should-shut-down-fox-news-and-msnbc/

10) Voting Irregularities in Alaska?

Don’t expect Joe Miller to concede anytime soon. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has declared victory, but the Miller campaign, citing the election’s close margin (among uncontested ballots, Murkowski leads by about 2,200 votes; if you add the contested ballots in, Murkowski has a lead of about 10,000 votes in an election where 255,000 votes were cast), is considering asking for a recount and examining precinct logs today and possibly tomorrow as well to see if any voting irregularities occurred.

The Miller campaign has posted on their site three affidavits from voters concerned that irregular activity occurred at their polling places. One says that, although he was the tenth voter at his location, he saw a ballot box stuffed with “hundreds” of ballots. Another claims that the 15 write-in ballots she reviewed had Sen. Lisa Murkowski written in in what looked like similar enough handwriting that it could be from the same person.

“Our campaign has sworn affidavits identifying unsecured ballot boxes, other precincts where numerous ballots appear to be in the same handwriting, others where there is 100 percent voter turnout and still other precincts where the ballots were sent to the Division of Elections presorted by U.S. Senate candidate,” said Miller spokesman Randy DeSoto in a statement. “These and other irregularities give our campaign pause. Alaskans must be able to trust the results of its elections.”

See: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/253582/voting-irregularities-alaska-katrina-trinko#

11) Rangel found guilty on 11 ethics charges; expulsion unlikely

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), who was until his recent troubles one of the House's most powerful members, was found guilty Tuesday of breaking 11 separate congressional rules related to his personal finances and his fundraising efforts for a New York college.

The eight-lawmaker subcommittee that handled the trial - and reached a unanimous verdict on 10 of the counts - will now send the case to the full ethics committee for the equivalent of sentencing. Potential punishments include a formal reprimand or censure, with either of those needing to be ratified by a vote on the House floor. Expulsion is another possible penalty but is considered highly unlikely.

…Those charges pointed to a collection of infractions related to four central elements of the case: that Rangel improperly used his congressional staff and official letterhead to raise seven-figure donations from corporate charities and chief executives for a college wing named in his honor; violated New York City rules by housing his political committees in his rent-controlled apartments in Harlem; did not pay taxes on a villa he owns in the Dominican Republic; and did not properly disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal financial assets.

This occurred while he served as the ranking Democrat or chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, which has oversight of tax issues. He resigned as committee chairman in the spring when he was found guilty of a more minor infraction related to accepting corporate-financed travel.

See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/16/AR2010111606155.html

12) Senate targets fresh veggies

Will farmers still be permitted to sell food directly to public?

WASHINGTON – A controversial bill that would expand the power of the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the American food supply is scheduled for a procedural vote in the lame-duck Senate tomorrow.

Natural-food growers fear the bill will threaten "the public's right to grow, trade and transport any foods," according to naturalnews.com. "It would grant [Big Brother] the power to arrest and imprison people selling cucumbers at farmer's markets."

S. 510, the "FDA Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010," is currently being "held" by U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, R.-Okla. A "hold," or threat to filibuster, prevents consideration of a bill by the full Senate. If 60 senators vote for cloture, they would break the hold and allow the Senate to begin debate on the merits of the bill itself.

See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=229229

13) Gap, Wal-Mart Clothing Costs Rise on ‘Terrifying’ Cotton Prices

Gap Inc., J.C. Penney Co. and other U.S. retailers may have to pay Chinese suppliers as much as 30 percent more for clothes as surging cotton prices boost costs.

“It’s a little terrifying to deal with cotton suppliers now,” said Vicky Wu, a sales manager at Suzhou Unitedtex Enterprise Ltd., a closely held, Jiangsu province-based clothes maker that counts Gap and J.C. Penney among its clients.

Cotton futures in China have surged more than 70 percent this year and were at a record earlier as the global economy emerged from recession, allowing people to spend more on clothes. Production of the fiber in China, the world’s biggest user and importer, is forecast to lag behind demand for a 12th year, cutting its stockpile to the smallest since 1995, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

See: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-16/gap-wal-mart-clothing-suppliers-raise-prices-on-terrifying-cotton-costs.html

14) Sen. Barbara Boxer Likens U.S. to Iran, North Korea and Pakistan Because U.S. Bans Homosexuals From Military

(CNSNews.com) - Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) today likened the United States of America to Iran, North Korea and Pakistan because those nations also do not allow homosexuals in their militaries.

Boxer likened the U.S.A. to the Communist regime in North Korea, the Islamic regime in Iran and the Pakistani government at a press conference in which she called for repealing the ban on homosexuals in the military during the lameduck session of Congress, which is taking place now before the new members elected on Nov. 2 can arrive in Washington, D.C. and replace the members who are retiring or who were defeated.

“We now stand with this rule with countries like Iran, North Korea and Pakistan in banning gays and lesbians from military service,” said Boxer. “Our brave young men and women fight alongside allies like Australia, the United Kingdom and others who allow gays and lesbians to serve openly. Let’s not stand with Pakistan and with North Korea and Iran.”

Isaiah 5:20: Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

See: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/sen-boxer-compares-us-iran-north-korea-a

15) Wow! HUNDREDS OF RIDERS WITH US FLAGS Escort Cody Alicea to School Today (Video)

Hundreds of American Legion Riders and fellow patriots escorted Cody Alicea to Denair Middle School this morning. They all had American Flags on their bikes.

Remember, this was the boy who was told by his school to remove his American flag from his bicycle because he was causing “racial tension”.

See: http://gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com/2010/11/wow-hundreds-of-riders-with-us-flags-escort-cody-alicea-to-school-today-video/ 

The most anti-Israel president; Lib cartoonist advocates violent revolution; Spending up 84% under Obama

1) Barack Obama: The Most Anti-Israel President 

With his remarks in Jakarta, Indonesia, President Obama made history once again. Sadly, it’s a most unenviable title. I believe he is the most anti-Israel President in U.S. history. 

In going to Jakarta, Indonesia, to launch his latest attack, he literally went to the ends of the earth to give voice to his displeasure. He emphasized his opposition to the policies of the elected government of Israel. 

He used his Jakarta platform to complain about Israel building apartments for her growing population. Where? In Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. 

To make matters even worse, Jakarta is a city no Israeli is allowed to enter! The symbolism of saying what he said in the country and city where he said it is simply atrocious. 

See: http://townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell/2010/11/12/barack_obama_the_most_anti-israel_president 

1a) We are not for sale 

Over the past week, it has been widely reported that the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government are conducting secret negotiations regarding future Israeli land surrenders to the Palestinians in the Jordan Valley and Jerusalem. According to the reports, the Obama administration has presented Netanyahu with a plan whereby Israel will cede its rights to eastern Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley to the Palestinians and then lease the areas from the Palestinians for a limited period. 

The reports on the length of the lease vary. Some claim that the White House is offering a seven year rental (emphasis mine). Others claim the Americans are offering Israel to lease Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley for several decades before relinquishing them completely. 

Netanyahu has reportedly accepted Obama's proposal in principle. The only remaining dispute is the length of the lease. Netanyahu is demanding that Israel be permitted to lease Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley from the Palestinians for somewhere between forty and ninety-nine years. The Americans foresee a shorter timeframe. 

The fact that these discussions are taking place is deeply disturbing both for what they tell us about the Obama administration's view of Israel and for what they tell us about Netanyahu's wisdom and character. 

By calling for Israel to cede the Jordan Valley to the Palestinians, US President Barack Obama is ignoring the most fundamental reality of the Middle East: Israel is besieged by its neighbors who seek its destruction (emphasis mine). Without the Jordan Valley Israel would become the modern day equivalent of Czechoslovakia stripped of the Sudetenland in 1938. It would be utterly indefensible. None of Israel's neighbors have accepted Israel's right to exist. The absolute majority of the Arabs in all of the states neighboring Israel wish to see Israel destroyed. By relinquishing the Jordan Valley Israel would effectively be committing national suicide by inviting an invasion it would be incapable of staving off. 

See: http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1110/glick110510.php3 

1b) Netanyahu to Obama: Jerusalem is not a settlement 

The peace process threatened to spiral out of control Tuesday over Israeli plans to advance 1,345 housing units in Jewish neighborhoods of east Jerusalem. 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had flown to the US Saturday night hoping to break the impasse in the stalled peace talks. Instead, US President Barack Obama publicly reprimanded him as the Palestinians reissued their threats to seek unilateral statehood. 

“The international community must respond to Israel’s unilateral measures by instantly recognizing a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders,” said chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat. 

Speaking about the Jerusalem homes at a press conference in Indonesia, Obama said, “This kind of activity is never helpful when it comes to peace negotiations.” He added that such “incremental steps can end up breaking down trust between the parties.” 

Netanyahu, in turn, sharply defended Israel’s right to build in Jerusalem, which it claims as its eternal united capital, even as the Palestinians claim the eastern party of the city as the capital of their future state. 

“Jerusalem is not a settlement. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that the government had never agreed to place any restrictions on construction in Jerusalem, which has 800,000 residents. 

See: http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=194673 

1c) Jerusalem is Israel's Capital, It Is Not A Jewish Settlement

On November 9, 2010, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) released a communication entitled “Construction in Jerusalem,” by the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Media Adviser. Stating, “Jerusalem is not a settlement; Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel. Israel has never accepted upon itself restrictions of any kind on construction in Jerusalem…Israel sees no connection between the diplomatic process and planning and building policy in Jerusalem, which has not changed in 40 years…Construction in Jerusalem has never hindered the peace process.” 

This was in response to Obama claiming, in a news conference on November 9th, that Israel hindered efforts for a two-state solution by building ‘Jewish settlements’ in territory that Palestinians have claimed. As was reported on November 10, 2010, on the Daily News and Analysis website (DNA - DNAIndia.com), in the article, “Obama speaking to Muslims, shortens Indonesia trip.” 

The Myth of Illegal Jewish Occupation 

Many Palestinians and Palestinian supporters refer to the land that Israel acquired in the Six-day War, in June of 1967, as ‘illegal Jewish occupation’. The territory Obama was referring to as being claimed by the Palestinians, includes east Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria (a.k.a. as the West Bank), and Gaza. 

Since Israel’s conception in 1948, six Arab armies attacked Israel in an attempt to wipe the state off the map. In 1967, Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian armies again threatened the existence of Israel. The West and the Soviets had supplied advanced conventional weapons to Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. Israel was completely surrounded by her enemies, had fewer weapons, and was strategically at a disadvantage. 

In response to the Six-Day war, the United Nations Security Council, on Nov. 22, 1967, carefully prepared and invoked the UN Resolution 242. Which has been the cornerstone for such negotiations as the Oslo Accords and the Road Map peace plans. 

One of the architects of the UN Resolution 242, Leonard J. Davis, was quoted in the Daily Star (Beirut) in 1974, stating, “It would have been wrong to demand that Israel return to its positions of 4 June 1967, because those positions were undesirable and artificial. After all, they were just the places the soldiers of each side happened to be the day the fighting stopped in 1948. They were just armistice lines. That's why we didn't demand that the Israelis return to them and I think we were right not to…” 

…Israel did not start the Six-Day War, but they had the courage to stand against all the odds, and were victorious. Now, Palestinians accuse Israel of illegally occupying the land. In an effort to make peace Israel forced Israelis to leave their homes in the Gaza in August of 2005, where many had lived for over 20 years. The Palestinians responded by firing thousands of missiles and mortar shells at Israeli citizens from within the Gaza (emphasis mine).

See: http://www.suite101.com/content/jerusalem-is-israels-capital--it-is-not-a-jewish-settlement-a307341 

1d) Canadian PM: I Will Defend Israel 'whatever the cost'

Perhaps I need to move to Canada…

See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUfFdhIOoQM&feature=share 

1e) Giving money and aid to our enemies: U.S. gives $150 mln to Palestinian Authority 

WASHINGTON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The United States will give an additional $150 million to the Palestinian Authority as Washington seeks to boost the fledgling government amid an impasse in peace talks with Israel, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday. 

Clinton made the announcement in a joint video conference with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who has been scrambling to fill a huge projected budget hole as his government expands services in expectation of full eventual statehood. 

See: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/WBT014236.htm 

2) Obama's Asian trip shows limits on global stage 

…But the narrative soured once Obama arrived in Seoul, South Korea, for a meeting of the Group of 20 developed and emerging economies. Obama failed to achieve a free-trade deal with Korea that was to have been the biggest trophy of his trip, and instead of banding with America against China's currency manipulation, several countries aligned themselves against the U.S (emphasis mine. No doubt they didn‘t like the fact that we are printing $600 billion to buy our own debt, either). 

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101115/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_asia 

2a) CEO in India refers to Obama as “fellow Kenyan” 

There was an odd little moment with Spice Jet founder Bhupendra Kansagra when President Obama spoke to CEOs Saturday in Mumbai. 

MR. KANSAGRA:  Thank you.  Welcome, Mr. President, to India.  As a fellow Kenyan, I’m very proud to see that you have made -- 

THE PRESIDENT:  Made something of myself.  (Laughter.) 

MR. KANSAGRA: -- India as the focus of your drive for exports out of the U.S. 

See: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/11/odd-little-moment-at-the-ceo-meeting.html 

2b) Obama tells Medvedev START vote is 'top priority'

YOKOHAMA, Japan – President Barack Obama, capping a far-flung Asian trip of mixed results, assured Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday that getting the Senate to ratify the START nuclear weapons treaty is a "top priority" of his administration. 

"I reiterated my commitment to getting the START treaty done during the lame-duck session," Obama said, noting that Congress returns next week for its postelection session. 

In talks with Medvedev on the sidelines of the summit of the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Obama also reiterated his support for bringing Russia into the World Trade Organization, calling Russia "an excellent partner." 

…The START treaty, which has been pending in the Senate for months,would reduce the limit on strategic warheads to 1,550 for each country from the current ceiling of 2,200. It also would set up new procedures to allow both countries to inspect each other's arsenals to verify compliance. 

Oh, what a fantastic idea! NOT! Reminds me of Isaiah 39... 

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101114/ap_on_re_us/obama_asia 

3) Chinese Credit Rater Downgrades U.S.

Dagong Global Credit Rating Co., the Chinese rating company that was recently rejected in its bid to be an officially recognized bond rater in the U.S., just downgraded the entire U.S. The always objective Xinhua has the “scoop.” 

The United States has lost its double-A credit rating with Dagong Global Credit Rating Co., Ltd., the first domestic rating agency in China, due to its new round of quantitative easing policy. 

Dagong Global on Tuesday downgraded the local and foreign currency long-term sovereign credit rating of the U.S. by one level to A+ from previous AA with “negative” outlook. 

The Chinese rating agency said the downgrade reflected the U.S.’s deteriorating debt repayment capability and drastic decline of the U.S. government’s intention of debt repayment. 

“The serious defects in the U.S. economy will lead to long-term recession and fundamentally lower the national solvency,” Dagong said in a report. 

See: http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2010/11/09/chinese-credit-rater-downgrades-us/ 

4) Ryan: Spending up 84 percent under Obama 

Republican Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.), who is set to take over the House Budget Committee next year, said federal spending has increased a whopping 84 percent under President Obama. 

The budget for the Environmental Protection Agency has increased by 124 percent under Obama, according to Ryan, who counted stimulus spending in his analysis. 

Ryan and other Republicans are calling for a $100 billion cut in non-defense discretionary spending to bring it back to 2008 levels. 

“There have been so many massive spending increases, 24 percent in the base budget, 84 percent when you add the stimulus,” Ryan said in an interview on Fox News Sunday. 

See: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/128047-ryan-spending-up-84-percent-under-obama 

5) Soros group wants Obama to rule by executive order

Organization cites mid-terms, claims progressives registered victory 

NEW YORK – It was progressives who won the mid-term elections, particularly incumbents in a socialist-founded congressional caucus that emerged from last week's ballots virtually unscathed, boasted an article published by the George Soros-funded Institute for Policy Studies, a Marxist-oriented think-tank in Washington, D.C. 

The article recommends that President Obama govern from executive order to push through a progressive agenda. 

…"The veil of a happy Democratic governing majority is finally lifted. We didn't have it then; We don't have it now. But what we do have now is a more solidly progressive bunch of Dems in Congress and a president presumably less encumbered by the false illusion that playing nice will get him a date with the other team." 

She went on to recommend that progressives "throw our support unabashedly behind the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and let's push Obama to finally do the right thing through as many Executive Orders as we can present to him." 

See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=225829 

6) Obama Remembers Mumbai Massacre; Forgets Ft. Hood First Anniversary 

he first week of November proved historic with the Democrat mauling in the mid-term elections and the 10th anniversary of the crews aboard the international space station, but there was one notable event that went unnoticed by the White House. The first anniversary of the Fort Hood massacre. 

President Obama’s remarks a year ago were odd enough leading with an unpresidential and out of touch “shout out,” but for the White House to completely ignore the Ft. Hood anniversary is disturbing. 

Obama, though he likes to remind himself that he is the commander-in-chief, has always demonstrated his disdain for our troops and seemingly cannot help it. Ignoring Ft. Hood is just another example. 

America lost 14, yes 14, lives that day. 

…There were no statements or Tweets from the White House or Robert Gibbs regarding Ft. Hood. However, Obama did mention, in his statements upon arrival in India, the Mumbai massacre: 

President Obama opened his 10-day Asia trip on a somber note Saturday, memorializing the victims of the devastating terror attacks that tore through Mumbai two years ago. “We’ll never forget,” he said. 

It is eerie that the President has such a repeated disconnect to Americans, the military, and is continually seen as unsympathetic, cold, uncaring, and tone deaf when it comes to his own country, but when overseas his heart pours out. 

See: http://bigpeace.com/sahiller/2010/11/08/obama-remembers-mumbai-massacre-forgets-ft-hood-first-anniversary/ 

7) Health Care Reform Group Gets Waiver from… Health Care Reform? 

The Hot Air Boss Emeritus has published an updated list of the exploding number of groups and businesses being granted waivers from having to participate in Obamacare. This is one of the more under-reported stories of the entire HCR saga in the mainstream media, in my opinion. 

In early October, the Obama administration announced it had granted waivers not only to McDonald’s, but also to several other firms and labor unions. 

Now comes word that Torquemada HHS Secretay Kathleen Sebelius has approved a whopping 111 waivers for businesses of all sizes, along with more unions and other providers of health insurance. The escapees include employers of many low-wage and part-time workers whose health insurance plans would otherwise be dropped, including Darden Restaurants — the parent company of the Olive Garden and Red Lobster and other chains, which employ some 34,000 people. 

Via Michelle you can read the full list of those not having to participate here. But for me, it’s not just the swelling, raw number of groups being granted waivers, but the size and types of companies and organizations making the list. There are large numbers of small to medium businesses on there, many with less than 25 employees. Weren’t these precisely the types of businesses that Obamacare was supposed to rescue from the evil health insurance system? 

See: http://hotair.com/archives/2010/11/14/health-care-reform-group-gets-waiver-from-health-care-reform/ 

8) Democrats pressing Pelosi to step aside 

WASHINGTON – In a fresh sign of turmoil among defeated Democrats, a growing number of the rank and file say they won't support House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a politically symbolic roll call when the new Congress meets in January. 

"The reality is that she is politically toxic," said Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley, one of several Democrats who are trying to pressure Pelosi to step aside as her party's leader in the wake of historic election losses to Republicans last week.

Pelosi startled many Democrats with a quick postelection announcement that she would run for minority leader. She has yet to draw an opponent for the post. 

Party elections are scheduled for next week, although a postponement is possible. 

In the interim, Pelosi's critics have become more vocal in their efforts to retire her from the party leadership. 

There's "starting to be a sense that this may not be as much of a done deal as people might have thought," Rep. Jason Altmire said of Pelosi's quest to remain the top Democrat. 

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101111/ap_on_go_co/us_democratic_turmoil 

9) New GOP senator could vote with Democrats on campaign finance bill 

Sen.-elect Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) could buck his Republican leadership in his first two weeks on the job and vote in favor of a campaign-finance transparency bill that the GOP’s top brass ardently oppose. 

Watchdogs are pushing for a vote on a stripped-down version of a campaign finance bill during the upcoming lame-duck session. That version of the legislation would force groups bankrolled by anonymous donors to disclose the sources of their funding, as well as their political spending. 

…“I broke with my party early. I think we should continue with further reforms,” Kirk said. “Federal candidates should disclose all of their campaign contributions within 24 hours on the Internet. I hope we can get that done in the next Senate and Congress. Also, for all of these outside groups we don’t want to silence any political voice ... we should have them disclose all of their donors, both from the left and the right.” 

Kirk is a longtime supporter of more limits on campaign finance. But, as a member of the House, he voted against the Disclose Act when it came up for a vote in late June. His resolve will be tested in the Senate, where Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) has spent years trying to fight greater restrictions. In his comments, Kirk said he hoped Congress could pass tougher disclosure laws in the next Senate and Congress, but with fewer Democrats in the Senate and Republicans in charge of the House, passing the Disclose Act will be virtually impossible. 

See: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/128185-sen-elect-kirk-could-give-dems-a-vote-on-disclose-act 

9a) A reminder of what the DISCLOSE act really is: 

For those of us who welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United, which restored First Amendment rights confiscated by federal campaign-finance laws, watching the progress of the DISCLOSE Act in Congress is depressing. 

The “Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act” (H.R. 5175) was approved in the House Administration Committee on May 20 on a party-line vote. In addition to the fact that it is filled with onerous, burdensome, and unnecessary provisions, it is extremely tilted against corporations in favor of unions (i.e., DEMOCRATS, comment mine). 

See: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/199905/one-sided-disclose-act/hans-von-spakovsky 

10) Soros’s Role in Kenya Chaos 

In a series of investigative reports this week, Glenn Beck has been analyzing the five-point strategy by which George Soros and his Open Society Institute have destabilized and overturned governments in several countries, including Yugoslovia in 2000, Georgia in 2003 and Ukraine, in the so-called “Orange Revolution” of 2004.  Compelling evidence indicates that Soros may have employed a similar strategy in Kenya, but with far more gruesome results. 

Following Kenya’s disputed elections of December 2007, activists funded by Soros’ Open Society Institute demanded that the election be overturned.  The country erupted into violence, leaving more than 1,100 people dead and some 350,000 homeless.  Thousands were injured, tortured, mutilated and raped. 

In his five-point regime-change strategy Soros, 1) infiltrates countries with his operatives, under the cover of humanitarian aid; 2) takes control of the air waves by creating “independent media” under his own control; 3) destabilizes the targeted country with financial manipulations and political agitation, 4) waits for an election, then disrupts it with charges of voter fraud, then; 5) takes the streets with armies of activist youth whom Soros has recruited, trained and funded, all demanding that the incumbent step down.  The formula often works.  In theory, it is supposed to produce a “bloodless” coup, in which few people are killed or harmed.  Things went tragically wrong in Kenya, however. 

…Last month, Soros donated $1 million to a leftwing activist group called Media Matters for America.  The money is to be used to muzzle Fox News, and, in particular, to silence talk show host Glenn Beck (emphasis mine).  Soros says that he donated the money because “the incendiary rhetoric of Fox News may incite violence.”  Given what happened in Kenya, it is difficult to take Soros’ moralizing at face value. 

See: http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/47966/ 

11) Liberal cartoonist and author Ted Rall advocates burning DC to the ground 

Liberal media outlets continue to find Ted Rall’s advocacy of violence a hoot. Here’s Rall yesterday from the David Pakman show. In this clip, he explains that he’s against the violence of “the system” and then goes on to envision riots that burn Washington DC to the ground. 

…What’s astounding to me is the double standard. A few years ago there was tremendous outrage when Ann Coulter said “My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times building.” More recently, Paul Krugman was in a tizzy over a map that appeared on Sarah Palin’s Facebook page. Any language that even hinted at violence was beyond the pale, he tut-tutted (ignoring that the DCCC had done the same thing). And of course gallons of ink have been spilled trying to connect Glenn Beck to a two-time felon who wanted to shoot some people at the Tides foundation. Message: The right is violent and dangerous. 

But when President Obama told a radio audience to “punish your enemies” a few days before the election Krugman was conspicuously quiet about it. And now we have a well-known, award winning cartoonist/journalist traveling the country telling anyone who will listen that it’s time to burn some shit down and pick up guns. And what is the response from the left? Bemusement that the right is so bothered by it. 

See: http://www.verumserum.com/?p=18940 

11a) Ted Rall Book Excerpt: Let’s Kill Some Christians and Tea Partiers 

Ted Rall has a new book out titled The Anti-American Manifesto. In it he makes an explicit call for a violent socialist revolution from within. In case you think this is all a big joke, here’s an excerpt from the book: 

…A war is coming. At stake: our lives, the planet, freedom, living. The government, the corporations, and the extreme right are prepared to coalesce into an Axis of Evil. Are you going to fight back? Will you do whatever it takes, including taking up arms?… 

The millions of partisans who follow Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and right-wing televangelists happen to be the best-armed people around, and they despise just about everyone who doesn’t think and pray like them. They will see collapse as affirmation of their beliefs that secular liberalism is destructive. They will also see it as an opportunity to create a new, ordered world atop the ashes. They will act to stop teenage sluts from getting abortions, teach niggers a lesson, and slaughter those spics, dots, and everyone else who doesn’t fit into their vision of what and who is right… 

I want to kick people in the ass. To get them thinking. To get you thinking. I want you to understand the situation—your situation. I want you to see that revolt is a good idea, and that it has never been more necessary. I also want you to size up the opposition (both the government and 28 The Anti-American Manifesto the extreme right): They will never get weaker.We have as good a chance at taking them on as ever. 

That’s a small sample of chapter one. He’s not kidding. He wants a war. He even uses al Qaeda sleeper cells as an example. And of course where would one go to promote a book about the violent tearing down of America? Here’s Rall on MSNBC: 

See: http://www.verumserum.com/?p=18820 

11b) MSNBC’s Ratigan Goes Way Off the Deep End

Discussing violent revolution as if it’s just another policy option 

MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan not only decided it was a good idea to have on far-left cartoonist Ted Rall to discuss his new book The Anti-American Manifesto, which calls for the left to consider violent revolution if its aims aren’t met, but Ratigan overtly endorsed revolution and implicitly endorsed considering violence. 

If this were on Fox News, the media would be blowing a fuse. It better get working on this one. If it’s suspension-worthy for an obiously left-wing host to give campaign donations to politicians, what is it when one quasi-endorses considering overthrowing the government via the gun? 

Here’s Ratigan introducing his segment (via NewsBusters’ transcript):

RATIGAN: Welcome back. We are here with a very disconcerting question. Are things in our country so bad that it might be time for a revolution? The answer obviously is yes, the only question is how to do it. From the wrongful wars to the corrupt economy to the special interests and the six industries that control every politician in this country, the political system itself, gerrymandering, 75% of all districts weren’t even up for grabs last week. You call that a competitive market? 

To clear our dire problems may require even more drastic solutions. And our next guest, cartoonist and author Ted Rall, targets the day-to-day absurdities in Washington through political cartoons printed in newspapers across the country, but now he’s tackling something bigger. The need for real change and real action, perhaps even through violence, or at least the threat thereof. It’s the subject of his new book, the “Anti American Manifesto”. Ted, nice to see you. What do you mean with that title? 

See: http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/msnbcs_ratigan_goes_way_off_th.php 

12) Oh, the irony! Look who's calling you terrorist!

Former Weather Underground leader worries about 'armed' tea parties 

A former leader of a '70s protest group responsible for bombing the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, police stations and other targets is worried that "racist, armed, hostile, crazy-making" tea parties pose an "unspeakable" threat to America. 

Bernardine Dohrn, who with her husband William Ayers were leaders of the communist revolutionary Weather Underground, had been tied to so many acts of protest violence in the '70s that she was placed on the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted List and was described by J. Edgar Hoover as the "most dangerous woman in America." 

Her association with Barack Obama notably led to Sarah Palin's famous comment during the 2008 presidential campaign that Obama had been "palling around with terrorists." 

Dohrn, however, told an Indian news and views website that she's concerned about a new breed of protesters, the tea partiers, whom she describes as "a hard right emerging, an armed, new hard right with massive control of media." 

"It's racist, it's armed, it's hostile, it's unspeakable," she said. "White people armed, demanding an end to this president – it's very crazy-producing." 

See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=224817 

13) MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell admitted on national television Friday that he's a socialist. 

In the middle of a heated debate with Salon's Glenn Greenwald on "Morning Joe," O'Donnell said, "I am a socialist. I live to the extreme left, the extreme left of you mere liberals" (video follows with partial transcript and commentary): 

LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: Glenn, unlike you, I am not a progressive. I am not a liberal who is so afraid of the word that I had to change my name to progressive. Liberals amuse me. I am a socialist. I live to the extreme left, the extreme left of you mere liberals, okay? However, I know this about my country. Liberals are 20 percent of the electorate. Conservatives are 41 percent of the electorate, okay? So I don't pretend that my views, which would ban all guns in America, make Medicare available to all in America, have any chance of happening in the federal government, okay? You can sit there and pretend that liberals should run more liberal in conservative districts. You love the loss of the Blue Dogs. The only way, the only way you have a chairman Barney Frank, there's only one way, that's by electing Blue Dogs. It's the only way. That's the only way you have a Speaker Pelosi. 

So there you have it: a host on MSNBC admitted that he is on the extreme far left of the political spectrum. 

NBC must be so pleased with its decision to give this man his own show. 

See: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2010/11/05/lawrence-odonnell-i-am-socialist-i-live-extreme-left-mere-liberals 

14) Calif. School Orders Boy to Remove American Flag From Bike 

…Cody Alicea, 13, likes to fly a small American flag on his bike in honor of veterans such as his grandfather, Robert. He’s been doing it for two months. But now, the school he attends has ordered him to remove the flag citing “racial tensions.” 

…“Our Hispanic, you know, kids will, you know, bring their Mexican flags and they’ll display it, and then of course the kids would do the American flag situation, and it does cause kind of a racial tension which we don’t really want,” Parraz said. “We want them to appreciate the cultures.” 

UNBELIEVABLE. 

See: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/calif-school-orders-boy-to-remove-american-flag-from-bike/ 

15) Mystery 'missile'

California vapor streak confounds sky watchers 

A possible missile launch that left a spectacular red vapor trail off the California coast triggered a frenzied search yesterday for explanations. 

The Pentagon insisted there was no threat to national security, but no agency -- including the Navy, Air Force, FAA and North American Aerospace Defense Command -- could say what it was or who was behind it. 

"Nobody within the Department of Defense that we've reached out to has been able to explain what this contrail is, where it came from," Pentagon spokesman Col. David Lapan said, referring to the condensation trail. 

"So far, we've come up empty with any explanation." Both the US Strategic Command and the Northern Command have been asked to "count noses" to make sure they're not missing any missiles, Fox News reported. 

…One blogger, naval analyst Raymond Pritchett, expressed alarm at the inability of US air-defense officials, nearly a day after the sighting, "to have any answers at all" about the apparent launching of "a ballistic missile 35 miles from the nation's second-largest city." 

Ordinarily, a sea launch would require several layers of notification to airmen and mariners and closure of airspace in the area.

The FAA said it didn't approve any commercial-space launches. Vandenberg Air Force Base said it did launch a satellite -- but that was on Friday. 

Former Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Ellsworth told CBS that it might have been an intercontinental ballistic missile being secretly launched for the first time in the Pacific Ocean by a US submarine. 

See: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/california_vapor_streak_confounds_4xEOTdPZ66LdCKuxFup8iL 

16) San Fran bans toys in some fast-food kids meals 

Ninny Nanny’s rule the world…

SAN FRANCISCO – It's a happy moment for people who see the Happy Meal as anything but. 

San Francisco has become the first major American city to prohibit fast-food restaurants from including toys with children's meals that do not meet nutritional guidelines. 

The city's Board of Supervisors gave the measure final approval Tuesday on an 8-3 vote. That's enough votes to survive a planned veto by Mayor Gavin Newsom. 

The ordinance, which would go into effect in December of next year, prohibits toy giveaways in fast-food children's meals that have more than 640 milligrams of sodium, 600 calories or 35 percent of their calories from fat. The law also would limit saturated fats and trans fats and require fruits or vegetables to be served with each meal with a toy. 

"Our effort is really to work with the restaurants and the fast-food industry to create healthier choices," said Supervisor Eric Mar, the measure's chief sponsor. "What our kids are eating is making them sick, and a lot of it is fast food." 

Right. “Work with the restaurants.” Legislating what they can market is NOT “working with” them. And, what is “making kids sick” is bad parenting, not McDonald’s. 

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101110/ap_on_bi_ge/us_kids_meal_crackdown